Expelled Nevada lawmaker Steven Brooks arrested near Barstow

LAS VEGAS – Former Nevada Assemblyman Steven Brooks was arrested near Barstow after a high-speed chase, hours after being expelled from the Legislature because he was “potentially dangerous.”

Brooks, 41, was arrested about 7 p.m. Thursday on Interstate 15 at Stoddard Wells Road, officials said. He was being held in the San Bernardino County Jail in Rancho Cucamonga on $100,000 bail, jail officials told the Los Angeles Times.

Authorities said it was unclear why Brooks was in California.

The arrest followed a high-speed chase that ended when police used spike strips to disable the runaway vehicle in which the driver was throwing metal objects at police, including a handgun, according to the Victorville Daily Press.

In January, Brooks was arrested on suspicion of threatening a fellow Democrat, Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick. Just days after Brooks’ alleged threats against the speaker, he was accused of grabbing for an officer’s gun during an arrest in Las Vegas on suspicion of domestic battery.

Troubles also arose in February: Investigators shadowing Brooks from North Las Vegas say he unsuccessfully tried to purchase an unspecified type of gun at a northern Nevada sporting goods store.

Brooks, who has spent time under psychiatric observation, had been banned from meetings with party colleagues in the Assembly and was banished from the Nevada Legislature building. Last month, he was also kicked out of a casino restaurant in Reno for unspecified reasons.

His was the first time the Legislature kicked out one of its members since a lawmaker was accused of libeling other members in 1867.

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john.glionna@latimes.com